More fun with stats! CFBStats helpfully grabs every play off the NCAA's box scores and turns lines like "Devin Gardner pass complete to Jeremy Gallon for 14 yards" into downloadable data on receiver targeting. Here's where Gardner's passes went last year by down:

Receiver

Target(%)

1st Dn

2nd Dn

3rd Dn

Total passes

395 (n/a)

142

144

105

Jeremy Gallon

137 (35%)

43%

28%

34%

Devin Funchess

92 (23%)

25%

18%

28%

Drew Dileo

30 (8%)

6%

5%

12%

Jake Butt

27 (7%)

3%

13%

4%

Jehu Chesson

24 (6%)

4%

8%

6%

Jeremy Jackson

10 (3%)

3%

3%

1%

Joe Reynolds

7 (2%)

2%

3%

-

A.J. Williams

2 (1%)

-

1%

-

Fitz Toussaint

20 (5%)

4%

8%

3%

Other backs

23 (6%)

6%

6%

6%

[nobody]

23 (6%)

5%

6%

8%

There were four passes on 4th down: two that Funchess converted and two that Dileo didn't. For our purposes I'm going to count them with 3rd downs because they're functionally the same (i.e. not converting is a failure). When every preview this year says defenses will be focused on taking away Funchess, you can see why: most every other target from last year is graduated or not immediately available (Butt). The data also show whether each reception ended up in a 1st down:

Receiver

1st/2nd Dn

Conv%

3rd/4th Dn

Conv%

Jeremy Gallon

45/101

45%

15/36

42%

Devin Funchess

21/61

34%

12/31

39%

Drew Dileo

5/15

33%

7/15

47%

Jake Butt

11/23

48%

2/4

50%

Jehu Chesson

6/18

33%

3/6

50%

Fitz Toussaint

7/17

41%

1/3

33%

Team

105/286

37%

44/109

40%

I don't know if the conversion rate for 1st and 2nd down will be that valuable except as a measure of team dink-and-dunk-iness. The numbers for conversion downs show tendency and success. Again, nothing surprising here. Gallon and Funchess remained equal targets, with Dileo the only other likely 3rd down destination.

Was it common for teams to be so focused on a few guys? Well those 3rd down targeting numbers are high. Gallon was the recipient of just over a third of Michigan's 3rd/4th down attempts; that's 7th in the nation at go-to-guyness. The rest:

Receiver

School

Tm Att

Tgts

Conv %

Alex Amidon

Boston College

106

43 (41%)

42%

Jordan Matthews

Vanderbilt

104

39 (38%)

38%

Shaun Joplin

Bowling Green

114

41 (36%)

49%

Willie Snead

Ball State

131

47 (36%)

55%

Allen Robinson

Penn State

129

46 (36%)

43%

Ryan Grant

Tulane

133

46 (35%)

46%

Jeremy Gallon

Michigan

109

36 (33%)

42%

Ty Montgomery

Stanford

100

33 (33%)

55%

Titus Davis

Central Michigan

98

32 (33%)

56%

Quincy Enunwa

Nebraska

112

36 (32%)

33%

Gallon was as important of a chain-mover for Michigan as A-Rob was to Penn State. What's weird is Michigan's 2nd guy was also really high on the list. Funchess (29% of 3rd/4th down targets, 39% conversion rate) also appears on the national leaderboard, at 19th, right behind Jared Abbrederis.

[After the jump: Michigan was the most obvious team in the country, finding Dileo-like objects, target types.]

Despite watching this approximately 457 times, I'm still in utter disbelief that this worked. Things required to have this happen:

Jeremy Gallon immediately pitching the ball to an official.

That official rugby-tossing the ball to the umpire.

The umpire placing the ball down and getting the hell out of the way.

FIRE DRILL LINE CHANGE.

Drew Dileo, barely in the frame when the camera zooms out, realizing after a split-second hesitation that he must sprint to the right spot and slide into position.

Jareth Glanda snapping the ball at the last possible moment so the line doesn't draw a flag.

Brendan Gibbons marking off his steps at warp speed, then drilling a 44-yarder despite still moving backwards at the snap (which is legal, as covered in today's mailbag).

100% complete insanity, indeed.

If you're wondering about the identity of the guy in the black jacket running around like a manic behind the goalposts, that's Greg Dooley of MVictors. Livin' the dream, Greg.

[The rest of the Northwestern game in GIFS after THE JUMP, including Brady Hoke RAWKING OUT, Devin Gardner sacrificing life and rib, Derrick Green truck stick, and more angles of the miraculous field goal.]

Fuller didn't get a shot of Dileo that he put on Flickr, but he got this 6-yard catch by Butt on 2nd and 5, when Dileo was busy running off two defenders.

The primary complaint with Michigan's offense, rightly, has been with the blocking dudes' problems with blocking dudes. While gathering data on personnel changes throughout the Northwestern game I got an opportunity to look hard enough to have an idea where the UFR will lay blame for 9 points in regulation. Preview: Bosch didn't have a good game. However the freshman guards are a problem solved mostly by experience, i.e. we can't fix it this year.

But if Michigan is looking for an offensive boost it might find one by improving which parts they deploy among the five eligible receiver positions. Which personnel and how they're aligned come with various strengths. Generally the smaller and more spread out, the better to make space for you to operate; conversely the larger and tighter the better to block dudes. I put forth that our blocking dudes are currently pretty bad at blocking dudes, thus it's worth moving some of their snaps to 3rd and 4th receivers.

MANBALL isn't Borgesian

Here's Borges's offense being run at UCLA in 1998, a time when the spread offense was something that won games at Tulane:

Note the 3WR sets pop up plenty. I believe the goal here is to be multifarious, not just very large and good at something. He wants to be impossible to prepare for because at any moment you might put in your 4-4 personnel when you see him trotting out 3 tight ends, and then he'll spread them out and put a 6'6 monster on your tiniest cornerback. This is why they're recruiting Fifty Shades of Shea.

But That's a Long Way Away

Today, they have precious few developed parts to play these "skill" positions. The running backs can't block, either because they're really spread nutrinos (Toussaint, Hayes, Norfleet) or true freshmen (Green, Smith) who didn't need blocking lessons to run over high school fools. The fullbacks are a walk-on they've been developing for awhile but who still misses 1 in 5 blocking assignments, and a RS freshman they recruited out of Utah who needs work.

Off. Performance vs. NW'ern When Player is On Field (Only normal downs counted)

Player

Pos

Snaps

YPA

Run%

Gallon

WR

60

5.45

48%

Funchess

WR

54

5.74

46%

Williams

Y

41

5.46

54%

Green

RB

40

5.45

53%

Butt

TE/WR

39

4.69

49%

Kerridge

FB/RB

23

4.52

43%

Dileo

WR

10

9.00

20%

Smith

RB

9

5.22

78%

Hayes

RB

8

5.63

13%

Chesson

WR

7

5.00

29%

Paskorz

TE

6

5.33

67%

Houma

FB/TE

4

4.50

100%

(Total)

n/a

60

5.43

48%

From a Borgesian perspective, the tight ends are in even worse shape. Funchess became a receiver because despite all that size he's not much of a blocker. That leaves his classmate A.J. Williams at the top of the depth chart despite the fact that he's not been a very good blocker, and his threat as a passing target fizzles out about three yards downfield. They've got Jake Butt, who like Funchess is more of a receiver at this stage in his career. And just so they have another body there, positional vagaband Jordan Paskorz has been getting a few drives here and there; after him it's burning a redshirt and air.

It would make sense, then, for the receivers to pick up the slack. If you can't block a guy with Williams, you can get that same block by putting a receiver far away from the play, so long as you threaten to go out there if a defender doesn't follow. But there's another problem with the receivers: Gallon is great but tiny, Funchess is great but still raw. Chesson is coming along. Dileo is himself.

And…? The coaches seem to have put every other receiver on the shelf: they've played Jeremy Jackson a lot and gotten little returns. Joe Reynolds seems to be not an option. So every time they go 4-wide, effectively the whole depth chart is out there. Exhaust those guys and the passing game goes away. Or at least this is the best reason I can imagine.

I'm not sure it's a good reason. It seems to me that they're pretty effective the more they spread 'em out, because you're essentially replacing a mediocre-to-bad FB or TE with a slot receiver who is pretty good at that job.

Did You See Dileo's Number in that Chart?

I spent much of yesterday and all night last night charting the personnel moves during last Saturday's game to be able to pull those numbers. The whole thing is here:

There's no way I can go back and do the whole season, unless Brian has a secret code hidden in the UFRs or something. Anyway: 9 YPA when Dileo is out there, and 4.5 to 5.5 when he's not. Here's some other things I found in there.

Podium

Opening remarks:

“You know, it’s always an exciting week. Believe me. I think from campuses, both schools, both programs, the opportunity to play in a rivalry game that has a lot at stake obviously with us both in the same division, they’re an awfully good football team. I think they’ve come a long way from early in the same season as far as from an offensive perspective. I think Connor Cook has done a nice job. I think their whole offense has really taken off, and you can really see it. We pay attention throughout the year, but really their football team. Their defense is as good as any. That’s going to be a big challenge for us. Playing up in East Lansing is always a bit of a challenge. Any time you play away from home, that’s just part of it. Making sure as a team that our focus and discipline and all those things have to be spot on for us to go out and compete at our highest level. That’s what we need to do. We’re excited. It’s going to be a fun week.”

With how aggressive Michigan State plays, how do you get your team to embrace that level of physicality?

“Well you hope your team does the same thing. We’ve been inconsistent in that department, so they all know, the guys who’ve been here. I think there’s 27 of them who were there in East Lansing two years ago. It’s not a whole lot, but they understand that it’s a physical next five weeks, and it starts with the physicalness that Michigan State will play with.”

Can you talk about this game in the context of the Legends division title?

“Well number one it’s the passion for this football game by Spartans and Wolverines, something that as a coach or a competitor you understand that and you look forward to it. The other part of it, the piece of the puzzle, it is important football game when you look at where you want to be and where they want to be at the end of November.”

What are the areas you need to improve the most for this game?

“I think our special teams need to get better. I don’t think we’ve punted the ball as well as we need to. I don’t think we’ve covered at times the way we need to. Big plays defensively. Can’t give up those big plays, and you can’t have those lapses. From an offensive standpoint, you always want to be able to have a running game and count on the guys up front being physical at the line of scrimmage, and getting Fitz or whoever it might be in the backfield started.”

Michigan State likes to attack the middle of your offense and blitz their linebackers. Will you get a good test for how good your new guards are going to be?

“I don’t think there’s any doubt. I think those two guys – and the good thing is there’s nine other guys out there with them. Believe me, there’s other guys who will be there for the first time with more significant roles than maybe they were before. I think how we handle their defense, their front seven, how we get off bump coverage and all those things as tight as they play. Those are all things we’re going to learn. I’d like to know a little bit more before, but that’s not going to be the case.”

Will you know the identity of your team after this Saturday?

“I think it gives you a little bit of an idea. Will you know it for sure? I’m not sure. I think there’s no doubt that every part of this game from the offense and defense, every fabric, whatever it is, you’re going to find something out about your team.”

How do you get Devin Gardner not to try to do too much?

“Yeah. You can’t give the ball away. I think they lead the conference in turnover margin and those things. We’ve got to do a great job of taking care of the football. Great job in decision-making. I think a lot of it, and you asked specifically about Devin. A lot of it for a lot of guys is the fundamentals that you play with and the techniques, and not getting yourself off kilter with how you’re going to play.”

Can you talk about the run game and how important it is to run against them? They haven’t given up 100 yards to an opponent yet.

“Yeah. And if you watch them enough you know why. I think running the football opens up so much of your play-action game. I think that’s where offensively they’ve done a nice job. They’ve done a great job with pounding it in there with the power plays, the stretch plays, those kinds of things, and the play-action game has really helped from an offensive standpoint. I think it’s important for both of us to establish a running game of some sort.”

MGoQuestion: What have been the keys to Michigan State’s improvement on offense over the course of the season?

“I think their offensive line is better. I think they’re playing better together as a group. I think Langford is a back who’s very patient. I think he’s come on. I think the quarterback situation’s settled now, and there’s not who’s going to play, who’s not going to play?”

MGoQuestion: Given the propensity of their offensive coordinator to break tendency in rivalry games (e.g. Ohio State 2011), how do you prepare for that?

“Well you have to prepare for what they do, and most teams are going to have four base running plays, four base pass concepts. You’ve got to be a little bit different in some ways in how you call a game. But at the same time it’s the same plays, and getting all the looks you can at those plays is going to help you.”

Michigan State doesn’t like you very much. How do you feel about them?

“Well we don’t necessarily like them either. This isn’t an admiration society. It’s a great rivalry with two teams that are 45 miles apart? That might not be enough, but it’s what it is.”

It sounds like you’re hoping your players are physical rather than knowing that they’re going to be.

“Yeah, I would say this in answering that: I think there’s a lot of guys who have played a lot of snaps. They understand it. There’s some new guys, a couple true freshmen, that haven’t played in this magnitude of a game. But you look at the back half of our schedule, it’s all physical. Every game’s got to be a physical game. I think from that standpoint, yeah, there’s some guys who don’t know it yet. I think they’re learning. I think they’ve learned in the last couple practices.”

How uneasy does that make you feel, that you have to hope -- ?

“I’m not hoping. It’s not hope. I don’t know if hope’s the right word. I think it’s more of us educating guys who haven’t played in that environment.”

How would you compare and contrast this rivalry with the Ohio State rivalry?

“I think they’re both important.”

-----------------------------

Roundtable

[Sorry everyone, my recorder crapped out on me while this was taping, so I’ll just write up a summary of important things that were said. As always, most of it was people trying to get Hoke to say something provocative or edgy, like “how tough is your team?” and “is this an important rivalry game?”]

Bullets:

Team is better equipped to handle the tough road environment. Learned a lot from 2011.

Gardner’s fundamentals have improved. Getting a couple snaps in East Lansing in 2011 was a valuable experience.

Michigan has not changed game prep to simulate Michigan State’s “physicality.” Will continue to do prepare the same way.

Jake Ryan could play more continuous snaps. Previously he was rotating in for three snaps and coming out.

Memory from playing Michigan State in 1997? "Charles Woodson's interception."

Drew Dileo’s status is questionable. Coaches will see if he can practice on Wednesday before making a decision on whether they will unleash The Threat.

Gardner is lauded as "awfully impressive," the OL and WR "deep and talented," and "Fitz looked pretty good"; Howard Griffith entertainingly (and accidentally) refers to "Pimpkins" when talking about the defensive line. DiNardo is just nuts about Mattison.

If you'd like to compare tones, here's the MSU talk. They "lean" Maxwell at QB, but DiNardo says he couldn't pick a guy based on 147 snaps in that practice.

"Each school makes its own individual decision regarding whether or not to license their trademarks for use in the EA Sports game(s)," the SEC said in a statement. "The Southeastern Conference has chosen not to do so moving forward.

"Neither the SEC, its member universities, nor the NCAA have ever licensed the right to use the name or likeness of any student to EA Sports."

“Schogiving” is a giant Thanksgiving party in either late July or early August, depending when the Schofield boys report to football camp. The party ballooned to 50 people this year with at least 15 pounds of pork tenderloin, a 35-pound turkey and a 20-pound ham. The food is prepared by Kathy in the Schofield kitchen.

“She kind of made up a holiday,” Schofield said. “She wanted to do it. Our whole family is there. She wanted to make a giant dinner and it became our entire family and friends.”

MEAT FOR THE MEAT GOD.

CATCH FOR THE CATCH GOD. Drew Dileo was good and underused last year and it would be beneficial for the team if he was good and properly used this year. I'm generally not a fan of KC Joyner's very basic statistical whatnot articles($), but YPA is YPA:

There are a lot of reasons to think that Michigan's offense will be better in 2013 and Dileo is one of them. In the eight-game sample detailed in the aforementioned article, Dileo racked up a 12.2 overall YPA and an 11.9 YPA on passes that were thrown to him when he started the play lined up as a slot receiver. That latter trait should come in very handy as the Maize and Blue make the full transition to Al Borges' pro-style passing offense.

Joyner names Dileo a potential breakout guy if he gets more opportunities, and I'm with him. More on this in the season preview, but Dileo was very, very good a year ago and I would like him to get five opportunities a game instead of 2.5.

"Michigan's been recruiting me since the eighth grade, Michigan State's been recruiting me since the ninth grade," Booker said. "They've been around for a while and I have great relationships with both coaching staffs. I've been to both campuses multiple times on unofficial visits, but I haven't visited (either) of them with both my parents at the same time and I want to do that."

Meanwhile, Kentucky:

"With Kentucky and coach Calipari, you can do everything in basketball you want to do," Booker said. "He puts players in the (NBA) and wins national championships, and builds dynasties. That's what you want to be a part of it, winning national championships and living out your dreams. That's what coach Calipari's been doing the last few years."

"I did lie. I came back. I told the truth and they suspended me indefinitely," Bryant said. "The way the guy was talking to me was like I did something wrong. I didn’t know it was OK for me to go to someone’s house."

Bryant said he lied because he was scared.

"Right, so I got scared and I lied," Bryant said. "I feel like if anybody else was in my position they probably would have done the same."

He's all like yeah he should be able to sign things:

"Yes. He should be able to," Bryant said. "He should be able to sign as many autographs and make as much money as he wants, because it’s his name. I feel like he’s the one who created it. He should be able to do whatever he feels as long as it’s legal and I don’t think there’s anything illegal about signing a picture of yourself and making money off himself. Shoot, the NCAA is making money off of it when they’re selling those No. 2 shirts. Why can’t he make a little bit of money off of it?"

"But how can you not like Devin Gardner? He's 6-4, he's 215 pounds. He fits perfectly into what Al Borges wants to do. I think Al Borges, to his credit, did the best that he could in a very, very difficult set of circumstances with (former Michigan quarterback) Denard Robinson. Denard will be always hailed and remembered by Michigan fans as being a hero, and yet when you're Al Borges and you're trying to run more of a West Coast, pro-style offense, it's hard to try to make that spread, running-style quarterback work in your system. But they made good strides and did the best they could."

Herbstreit doesn't like back-to-back games for Michigan and Ohio State, which means he is not having a stroke.